Here my last game, so much talked about in some Italian chess sites.
The notes are mine.
My opponent was an adept of 1…g6 and I had no time to prepare this game.
I was convalescing after my last operation : the wounds still cause me such pain.
But I received a phone call from my team concerning the C-League of the Italian Team Championship : a player was missing…
1.b3 !? Obviously it’s clear that the opening I played is not chosen for a draw (but my opponent in an Italian site declared that he was sure of this fact).
When playing for a draw it is always better to play “classical” chess.
It seems that my opponent did not understand this obvious fact.
Openings like this are provocative, like his own opening 1…g6, he should have understood that.
White’s position is similar to a Scheveningen with inverse color (and not to a Hedgehog, as the same Italian chess sites have written).
So White’s plan must be similar ?
The knight in g3 must be repositioned in the same way ?
In the analysis I found an interesting and alternative plan.
16.Rac1?!
[16.h4! with the strong idea h5 ed h6 and then d4, and now which is better for black ? This is one of the two possible plans, as Robert Fischer has shown in the past.] 16…c6 17.Rfd1 Qb6 18.Nf1 Rfd8 19.Kh1 The profiling move is necessary because I have decided to place my knight in c4. …Nxe3
19…Rac8 20.Nd2 Qa7 21.Bf1 Bf8 22.Nb1?! [22.Ne4!?] 22…Qb6 23.Nd2 Qa7 24.Nb1 Rd7 25.Qc4 Kh8 26.d4
It is obvious that this movement is normal in Scheveningen, but perhaps it should be better prepared.
[26.Qg4 Rcd8 Maybe a slight edge for black.] 26…e4 27.Nd2?!
[27.Nc3 Nb6 28.Qe2 Rcd8] 27…f5 28.g3
[28.Qc2] 28…Bh5 29.Be2?
A mistake not seen by both players.
[29.Re1 b5! 30.Qc2 Qc7 and again perhaps a slight advantage for Black]
29…Bf7? [29…Nb6-+] 30.Qc2 Nf6 31.Nc4 Bd5 32.Ne5 Rdd8 33.Bc4 Kg8?! 34.Kg2?! I’ve played the normal move, but the plan I’ve analyzed seems much better.
[34.f3! An active move 34…Qb6 (34…exf3? 35.Bxd5+ Rxd5 36.Qxf5) 35.g4!±; 34.Rg1 with the interesting idea g4 and the position is not clear]
34…Bd6 35.Qc3?!
[35.h3] 35…Qb6 36.h3 Qc7 37.Be2 Ra8 38.Nc4 Bf8 39.Ra1 g5 40.Ne5 Bd6 41.Bc4 Qe7 42.Kh2 Rf8 43.Rg1 [43.a4!?] 43…Kh8 44.Be2 Rg8 45.Nc4 Bc7 46.b4 a4 47.Rac1?!
[47.Ne5!? Rgf8 (47…f4? 48.exf4 gxf4 49.gxf4 Rad8 50.Rg5±) 48.b5 cxb5 49.Bxb5] 47…f4 48.exf4? Terrible mistake in Zeitnot, but the whole match was over : lost in the 4th board, lost in the 3rd board (even if some “spectacular things” happened here in the end), sure win in the 2nd board.
Chattering
But at that time we couldn’t win the game and so our team was relegated to the lower division.
[48.Ne5 and Black is slightly better] 48…gxf4-+ game over 49.Ne5 e3 50.f3 fxg3+ 51.Kg2 Nh5 52.Qxe3 Qh4 53.Ng4 Rae8 54.Ne5 Nf4+ 55.Kf1 g2+ Yes, I have lost after a blunder in mutual zeitnot.
But the game is not as bad as some commentators have written. I never play for a draw, and I miss a few opportunities (16.h4 and 34.f3) to give White an exchange advantage.
The rest is just chattering. 0-1
